‘Inbox crowded’, PM to visit Japan in July

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Japan in July this year, the Ministry of External Affairs said here Friday. While Modi is making his first trip to Bhutan mid-June, MEA’s spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the new PM’s “foreign policy inbox is pretty crowded”.

He said there was a request by the Japanese government for an early visit of Modi to the country and India was working “very closely” with them to work on that request.
During his visit, Modi will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on key bilateral and regional issues in the backdrop of China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

Talking about India’s involvement in multilateral levels like BRICS, G-20, UNGA among others, he said most of these are attended at the highest level from India, indicating that Modi may travel to Brazil for summit of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) to be held in mid-July.

Referring to an invitation from the US for a summit meeting between US President Barack Obama and Modi, the spokesperson said Obama was among the first foreign leaders to make a congratulatory call to Modi during which a specific invitation was made.

“We have received a specific date for the visit. We are now in contact with the US to work out mutually convenient date for the PM to be in Washington,” Akbaruddin said.